Tag: Latest

Farmers Should Practice Eco-Friendly Farming

SUNGAI BESAR, 12 Nov: Farmers are encouraged to implement eco-friendly paddy farming using organic fertilizers in an effort to reduce the cost of using chemical fertilizers that are increasing in price from time to time.

Sekinchan assemblyman, Ng Suee Lim said that Selangor has taken first steps in the implementation of environment-friendly farming by encouraging farmers to use the System Rice Intensification (SRI) technique to reduce the cost of rice cultivation and water pollution.

“Farmers who dare to start using organic fertilizers in stages will abandon the use of chemical fertilizers,” he said.

According to him, when farmers use organic fertilizers it would indirectly reduce the level of chemical wastage that exist in rivers and irrigation channels.

“Ultimately by using eco-friendly methods, the fish will return to the fields, fishes have reduced due to usage of different types toxins that are poisonous,” he said during the SRI Rice Seeds opening ceremony at Tali Air 14, Simpang Lima here.

Meanwhile, Kedah Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Exco, Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah said, the nature of sustainable agricultural practices will provide long-term benefits to future generations.

He said, the SRI method will be extended throughout the state of Kedah and efforts to provide explanation and guidance to farmers, will be extended.

“Environmentally sustainable practices are more approachable and have won the hearts farmers who are from areas of poor communities because the materials to make fertilizer can be attained around them,” he said.

He said the use of environmentally friendly methods is to ensure environmental sustainability in the long run in the paddy fields which are the source of food.

“This method that we are presenting to the community is so that they can utilise this knowledge for the welfare of the people and ensure sufficient food production due to the increase in population and the shortage of agricultural land,” he said.

ANAK to Launch Women’s Division This December

SHAH ALAM, 12 NOV: The National Felda Children’s Association (Anak) will launch a women’s division as another fighting branch which will raise issues regarding Felda women.

This matter was informed by its chairman, Mazlan Aliman, who sees this effort as an important focus for Anak after entering the second phase of its establishment on 4 November 2007.

According to him, this step was decided as a result of the briefing made at the Anak Strategy Workshop which was held in Gombak on 9 and 10 November.

“To give a better life to women in Felda, we will launch Anak’s women’s division on this December as a mechanism for how the role of intellectual women inside and outside Felda (can be expanded) for a better and secured life.

“All this while their roles were small and seemingly ignored in Felda,” he said when contacted by TV Selangor.

Commenting on the establishment of Anak which has entered its sixth year, Mazlan said the first five years were the period of introducing Anak’s fight and seeing how far it can contribute to the people of Felda.

He explains that the strategy workshop which was participated by 30 senior leaders of Felda briefed four matters which gave focus to housing issues and the plight of the second and third generations of Felda.

“We came to a decision that for this second phase, is the process of the direction of the settler’s children such as settlers’ farms, acquisition process which will lead to how the settler’s children can contribute.

“The matter of living comfort, namely accommodations (were also discussed). When we fought for housing issues, it succeeded in pressuring the government with the announcement which was made yesterday (Felda New Generation Assembly),” he said.

Income Growth for Paddy Farmers Using SRI Technique

SUNGAI BESAR, 12 Nov: Paddy farmers who are using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) stated that their incomes had risen since using that method.

The SRI method is one of the projects under the Chief Minister Incorporated (MBI) with the Selangor Department of Agriculture which has had tremendous support from the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to increase farmers income in the state.

The system which was introduced to farmers around Tanjong Karang, Sekinchan and Sungai Besar about three years ago is increasingly getting the attention of farmers because the system has proved to be capable of yielding better results compared to the conventional way at the moment.

According to farmer, Fadzlin Taslimin, 60, since using the SRI method for the last few seasons, paddy planting has become more fertile and that the use of unsafe chemical pesticides is no longer necessary.

He said, the cost now is only around RM1,600 compared to more than RM5, 000 previously.

“This season I expect the cost to be less than RM1, 000,” said Fadzlin during the launching ceremony of SRI Paddy Seeds at Tali Air 14 Simpang Lima here.

Mohd Subki, 40, said that his health has been improving as no longer needs to wallow around, using various chemical pesticides that are harmful to his health.

He said he is now able to get up to 10 tonnes compared to only 5 tons previously and expects these figures to improve further in the coming seasons.

Meanwhile, according to the Selangor SRI Paddy Advisor, Noorazimah Taharim who explained how the method works said, paddy farmers can conserve of up to 50 percent of water usage in the paddy fields, thus overcoming irrigation in the paddy fields during drought.

She said that with the SRI method, farmers can produce fertilizer and insect repellents which are easily and readily available around the village area.

Farmers can produce fertilizer from bamboo shoots, apple snails, pineapples, bael (labu kayu), water spinach (kangkung), amaranth leaves (bayam), banana hump, bananas, cocoa, coconut husk, coconut bud, eggshells and bones.

Meanwhile, to make the pesticides, farmers can use garlic, chilli, soursop leaves, ‘mambu’ leaves, galangal (lengkuas), ginger, lemongrass, bael fruit and tobacco.

He said, this method requires only about 5 kilograms per hectare including the seeds for sowing which will nearly 90 percent compared to the conventional method.

“The increase in revenue that can be attained is up to 11 tonnes per hectare and there are also reports that profits can reach up to 15 tonnes per hectare in Indonesia, India, China and Afghanistan through SRI methods that are becoming more common in countries around the world,” he said.

CM: Use State Reserves to Build Third Bridge in Klang

KLANG, 11 Nov: The State Government will proceed with the construction of a third bridge to overcome congestion in Klang if the Federal Government failes to do so next year, said Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

According to Abdul Khalid, the State Government will use the Selangor-owned reserves to implement the project which had been promised by the Umno-BN Government previously.

He said, during the reign of the former Umno-BN Government, they promise the people of Klang to build the bridge, they had even placed the foundation for the bridge construction.

However, he added, it now is just seen as an empty talk.

“The people of Selangor are the largest contributor to Malaysia. Therefore, next year we will be holding a variety of programs for people in this state. The people of Selangor is the largest contributor to the national economy, now is time to return the yields to the people.”

“Next year, if the third bridge is still not built in Klang, we will build it using state reserves. That way we can implement equitable development in Selangor,” he said while attending the Deepavali Celebrations at Jalan Tengku Kelana, this evening.

Before this, the Central Government had promised a third bridge in Klang worth RM230 million to benefit the community in the area.

The construction of the bridge which began in 2007, has however, still yet to be completed till now by the appointed contractor who is taking his time.

State Government Channels RM40, 000 for Drainage Upgrade in Combating Flood

SHAH ALAM, 11 NOV: Flood problems that have struck Kampung Jenjarum will be fully resolved when an allocation of RM40, 000 is channelled by the State Government to solve the problem.

The allocation channelled through the office of Teluk Datuk Assemblyman Datuk Bay will be used to upgrade and maintain the drainage along Jalan Kampung Jenjarum in the village concerned.

According to Teluk Datuk Assemblyman, Philip Tan Swee Choon, although works will only start next month, latest, early action to control flooding from further occurring has been taken.

“Previously, when it floods, the water will only recede in four to five days, but now it rarely happens because we had previously cleaned the drains and opened blockages near the stalls there.”

“It’s just that lately because of heavy rain every day in addition to the high tide the water level has risen, but not as bad as before and it takes about two to three hours only to recede, it does not take days like before.”

“Once the upgrade project is completed I am certain that flooding will not be an issue anymore,” he said.

Additionally Swee Choon has also requested for the Kuala Langat District Council (MDKL) to meet with a developer who is actively completing a housing project near the area that has been prone to flood.

“I have asked that an MDKL Officer meet with the developer and instruct them to build a more suitable and proper drainage system for their housing project “

“Usually developers will build the building first, drainage system later and this causes water in the area to flows easily to the rural areas,” he said.

Anwar: PR Promises to Not Neglect the Indian Community If PR Takes Putrajaya

Klang NOV 11: The Indian community in this country will not be ignored if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is given the opportunity to rule in Putrajaya after the upcoming 13th General Elections.

Opposition Chairman, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, the India community which has often been overlooked by the Umno-BN Government will be given equal attention along with the other races who are citizens of this country.

He said, the best example is shown by PR-led Selangor State Government under the administration of Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who allocated a total of RM4 million each year to all Tamil National-type Schools (SJKT) in the state.

“If 50 years ago SJKT never received special assistance for school development, the State Government now gives all SJKT RM4 million each year in Selangor,” he said.

Anwar said this when giving a speech while visiting the Deepavali Festival held at Jalan Kelana, Klang last evening.

Also present was Selangor Exco members, Dr. Xavier Jayakumar and Ronnie Liu as well as Klang MP, Charles Santiago.

Meanwhile, Anwar said, the people of this country should have faith in PR to implement their proven policies for the interests of the people.

“We’ve heard so many things, from abolishing PTPTN, lowering car prices and various policies will be implemented if PR rules Putrajaya.”

“I do not want to hear any more fights about racial disputes, we will take care of all races and citizens in this country,” the Selangor State Economic Advisors added.

SPAD Fails Main Responsibilities regarding ‘Arab Touts’

SHAH ALAM, 11 NOV: The Metered Taxi Drivers Action Group (BBPTB) expressed the regret to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which has been accused of washing their hands off the issue of curbing the ‘Arab touts’ that are becoming common in the capital.

Chairman, Amran Jan in a press statement said, BBPTB supports the Association of Bestari Taxi Driver’s action in fight against the increasing problem of ‘Arab touts’ that are stealing the livelihood of taxi drivers here.

But what is most regrettable, he said, that the association had acted alone, only assisted by the police, without any follow-up action from the SPAD.

“The SPAD should take more responsibility regarding this case instead of just taking the report lightly without any follow-up action. Such stance clearly shows that the chairman (Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar) is really not interested in addressing the problem or should we say the crisis that has troubled the taxi drivers for decades.”

“It also indirectly confirming the BBPTB insistence for Syed Hamid Albar to resign as Chairman of the SPAD, well founded,” he said.

He added that now the primary focus of the SPAD is being directed more towards the Mass Rail Transit (MRT) mega projects.

He added that the SPAD has been unable to solve existing problems in the taxi service industry in this country.

“This is in addition to the dilemma faced by lorry drivers who have already started to go on strike, like in Malacca recently. This is a fact that the SPAD has to face. It’s sad to say that perhaps Syed Hamid Albar has chosen the wrong ‘retirement plan’, “he insisted.

MACC Urged to Investigate All Parties Connected with Bala’s Corruption Allegation

SHAH ALAM, November 11: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been urged to conduct a thorough investigation on some individuals that have been raised by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam (Bala) in relation to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

PKR vice-president, Tian Chua, when contacted, said the MACC should be transparent instead of rashly responding to the demands of Bala.

In fact, he said, MACC action is deemed to be trying to hide ‘something’.

“If the MACC was totally transparent, they would insist upon asking Bala to give a statement during the trial. If the MACC wants to confirm whether or not they have enough evidence, everyone needs to be investigated. Unfortunately, all the names mentioned by Bala were never investigated, “he said.

Citing Malaysia Kini, MACC in reply to Bala’s lawyer, Americk Sidhu on 8 November, said there is a lack of evidence to prosecute any of the parties based on the decision by the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP).

MACC in its reply said they had “conducting a thorough investigation” and had submitted the results to the DPP for “research and advice”.

According to MACC, the DPP had reviewed the overall evidence but found there was a lack of evidence to prosecute any of the individuals for whatever criminal offense.

In a three-paragraph response, MACC said that they agreed with the conclusions of the deputy public prosecutor, and it has been presented to the MACC operation review panel on 8 November 2012, who had also agreed with him.

Tee Yong Not Qualified to Challenge Bandar Tun Razak Seat

KUALA LUMPUR, NOV 9: Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry 2, Datuk Chua Tee Yong is not qualified to challenge the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat because he is said to have a track record far minuscule compared to Abdul Khalid’s excellent accomplishment as Minister of Selangor.

Tee Yong has also failed in ensuring that the ministry under him has successfully collected debts of RM250 million from the Wanita Umno chief Datuk Sharizat Jalil’s family controlled company National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), that was supposed to commence payments last January.

On the other hand, Abdul Khalid does not only have an excellent track record over the past four years in leading the Pakatan Rakyat’s Government in Selangor, but he had even managed to collect every sen of the RM392 million debt from Talam Corporation left by the previous BN government.

The following was said by the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, Tony Phua at the People’s Freedom Tour program held at Flat Sri Labuan, Cheras last night.

“He says we did not successfully collect the debt from Talam Corporation, however (independent auditor) KPMG confirmed that we have successfully collected it, but for this cattle project, the government had prioritised in issuing the loan amounting to RM250 million to the family of Datuk Sharizat Abdul Jalil, and until today the Federal Government has yet to collect a single sen from the NFC.

“I would like to ask the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Datuk Chua Tee Yong from MCA, who is competing for Bandar Tun Razak, can they guarantee that they will be able collect every sen from the RM250 million of the public’s money given to the family of Datuk Sharizat Jalil to buy luxury condos in Bangsar, Singapore, Kazakhstan and other places we are not aware of.”

“They have no right to contest in Bandar Tun Razak because they are not equal to the success, achievement and transparency of Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who will be competing in Bandar Tun Razak,” said Tony Phua.

Phua also reminded voters of Bandar Tun Razak regarding Abdul Khalid action in blocking the increase in water tariffs twice; 35 percent in 2009 and 25 percent in 2012, because he did not want to burden the people.

Additionally Abdul Khalid also managed to save RM100 million of public funds each year when he made the decision to terminate the Alam Flora’s contract and replace them with a new contractor through open tender.

The People’s Freedom Tour which was held in rainy conditions received more than 2,500 people from Bandar Tun Razak.

Aside from Tony Phua, the program also featured PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdul Khalid and Pokok Sena MP, Datuk Mahfuz Omar.

State Government Distributes Deepavali Hampers to Poor Families

SHAH ALAM, Nov 10: The state government will be providing 39,000 food hampers to be distributed to the 56 State Legislative Assembly (DUN) across Selangor in conjunction with Deepavali celebrations this.

Health, Plantation Workers, Poverty and Caring Government Exco, Dr Xavier Jayakumar said almost all the items will be donated to the low-income Indian community.

He said each constituency (DUN) would receive between 500 to 700 hampers depending on the population of the DUN.

“Amongst the contents of the hamper is five kilograms of rice, two kilograms of cooking oil, meehun, maruku flour and packets of chicken curry powder, goat curry powder and Kurma powder,” he said in a press statement here today.

According to him, the distribution will be carried out by officers and personnel of the Section Sectoral and Macro Unit, and the Privatisation Unit of the State Economic Planning Unit (Upen) of Selangor.

“The State Legislative Assembly and Service Centre will distribute all hampers to residents within their area when the hampers are received.”

More Tadika Rakyat, Proposed State Government

PETALING JAYA, NOV 10: The State Government has proposed to build three more Tadika Rakyats in Serendah, Kampar and Dengkil to facilitate children from low income families to receive preschool education.

The constructions of these kindergartens are the continuation of the two existing kindergartens in Taman Sentosa, Klang and Kampung Lindungan in Petaling Jaya.

Hence, Health, Plantation Workers, Poverty and Caring Government Exco, Dr. Xavier Jayakumar, welcomed parents who cannot afford preschool education to send their children to these kindergartens.

“This kindergarten is open to all races. Therefore, people in this area, do not miss the chance to register your children.”

“In addition to the low fees, children will also be exposed to early childhood education,” he added.

He said, pre-school education is the first step to prepare children before the commencement of
statutory education.

“Based on research, there are still 30 percent of children who are not enrolled in any preschool because they cannot afford the monthly fee.”

As a result, many children are left behind in terms of education like not knowing how to write, count or read.

This causes them to fall behind their peers when they eventually enter primary school and this causes serious problems in the long term.

“Lack of exposure to education in the early stages is among the factors that contribute to social problems,” he said during the Tadika Rakyat Kampung Lindungan launching ceremony here, early this morning.

The Tadika Rakyat at Kampung Lindungan is the second branch that has been built by the State Government along with the non-governmental organization (NGO), Child Information, Learning and Development Centre (Child).

The kindergarten is reserved for families earning below RM 1,500.

In addition to providing comfortable learning, students are only charged as low as RM 20 per month.

The kindergarten costing about RM 460,000 has been equipped with eight classes and is able to accommodate about 20 students per class.

The State Government has provided RM 50,000 for each of the kindergartens.

Also present was Local Government, Research and Development Exco, Ronnie Liu, Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Taman Medan assemblyman, Haniza Talha, Kelana Jaya MP, Gwo Burne Loh and Deputy Mayor of Petaling Jaya, Puasa Md Taib.

500 Gather in Protest Against AES

MANJUNG, 9 NOV: “AES Protest” urged Transportation Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha to cancel commencement of the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) within a week.

Joint Coordinator, AES Protest, Saifullah Zulkifli stressed that any efforts to combat the issue of accidents are welcomed.

Nevertheless, AES implementation is suspicious and a burden to the people.
“Protest AES gives a duration of a week to Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha to cancel implementations of the AES and to respond to the protests.”

“If the reverse happens, another gathering of ‘AES Protest’ with leaders of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will be held at parliament,” she said in a press statement.

She said this after the People’s Gathering in Protest of AES that was attended by 500 supporters in Setiawan, Perak today.

The first gathered at Masjid An-Nasyirah, Sitiawan after Friday evening prayers and later moved towards the Cho Ha’s office who is the Lumut Member of Parliament.

A memorandum of protest against AES has proposed four reasons for the system’s rejection.

The four factors stated in the memorandum are the background of the two companies chosen and the suspicious deal of privatization.

The memorandum also states that accidents are not only caused by speed and that the implementation of AES will only add to the people’s burdens.

“Protest AES state their regret at the cowardly attitude of Lumut Member of Parliament, Datok Seri Kong Cho Ha in not facing the people directly and only sending an office clerk to accept the memorandum,” he added.

The gathering was attended by Pakatan Rakyar, NGOs and social leaders.

Amongst the leaders present who gave speeches were representatives of PKR Perak, Chang Lih Kang, Dr Raja Ahmad Iskandar who represented PAS Youth Assembly of Perak, Siti Aisyah Sheik Ismail as representative of PKR and few other NGO leaders.